I have heard comments about a lot of teenagers and folks that have passed that stage who watch a lot television but don't read much who are considered dumb, witless and illeterate by some on this site. I was wondering why that is.<BR><BR>You see, I read a lot myself and I like to learn about the world and its perhaps trivial facts. Some folks don't. The comment is made often in a context relating to the upcoming LoTR movies. Those who have not read the book and will just be content to see the film and never read book are considered illeterate and less intelligent. Should we not differentiate something here? differentiate intelligence and knowledge?<BR><BR>Is reading books about certain subjects something that will make people label you as an intellectual more easily? Would you be afraid to say you only watch television and don't read books at all? And is it indeed a trademark of intelligent people to be well read?

Reading accomplishes several things TV can't:<BR><BR>1) Exposure to logic, grammar and rhetoric (not to mention vocabulary) at a speed where they can be learned. Good readers make good writers. In general they make good thinkers too.<BR><BR>2) The possibility of exposure to a much wider and deeper variety of opinions, cultures, ideas and such than are presented on TV. Half-an-hour on the Discovery channel on subject X is nice, but the 80 books on it are better.<BR><BR>3) Books are not purely vehicles for marketing and advertising, as most TV is. A book may want to sell you an idea, but probably not a Coke.<BR><BR>4) You can't write notes on a video tape. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0> <BR>

Non-readers are not witless just less knowledgable.<BR>I have a very good friend who is quite intelligent, but he doesnt read much, which means he picks up on ideas that me, and other friends will get from books, and then will be able to have an intelligent conversation. Whats tragic in my mind is how he wastes his talents, but he is not by any means witless.

There is no doubt reading is very educational. A scholar is a learned person who had studied, 90\% from books, and gained a wealth of knowledge. And of course books were here long before Tv and films so we have always accepted them as our main source of learning. They tend to go into much more depth on a subject, where as films etc, often through lack of time, tend to omit many of the finer details. However, if you are someone who likes to know only the basic's of a subject, A Tv documentary would obviously be more apt.

generally, books expose the reader to its subject more than tv exposes the watcher to its subject...<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>...as far as just gathering black and white facts, I think one could possibly benefit equally from between the two...but when it comes to the experience one gets from a story compared to the experience one gets from a movie, the book definitely offers a more intimate experience...<BR><BR>Nienna said it nicely<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>

Why, thank you! Especially since I didn't say anything at all...<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif"border=0><img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0> That was Axordil - we both have the House of Haleth thingy - us and summoned, I think, may be the only members.<BR><BR>But - he did say it beautifully, didn't he? <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>

lol,GM and TGP.no,its not fair to say that non readers are not intelligent,they're just(as someone said)less well informed.like vincent,i know a lot of non readers who are very intelligent people,and i feel sad that they're missing out on so much that they could learn from books.<BR>and there are a lot of people in the world who are illiterate,and its rather unfair to classify all of them as idiots because they didn't have access to education.

What gets me is the lack of appreciation many people have for the writen word. As others have said, they are only missing out. I have experienced so many wonderful things through books. And when I can't carry on a simple conversation with a teenager without them asking me what a word means, that scares me. I'm certain reading builds a beter vocabulary, at least. As for myself, when reading, if I couldn't figure out the meaning of a word I didn't know from the context, I would look it up. Therefor, I have a rather broad vocabulary.